'Marriage In the Movies'

So how might we best portray the realities of marriage? In a novel, perhaps? A long-running TV drama or sitcom? What about a movie?

Serious business indeed. It seems hard to translate the ins and outs of a long relationship in a 2-hour capsule. Hollywood has been trying since the silent film age, but not always with success. Wesleyan Film Historian Jeanine Basigner calls a story about marriage a “screenwriter’s nightmare” in her book I Do and I Don’t: A History of Marriage in the Movies.

We’ll talk to her about what movie marriages can tell us about society. And a Psychology professor tells us how society deals with marriage.

We’ll also talk to screenwriter and novelist Rafael Yglesias about the story of his 30-year marriage best told in novel form.